Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

 Ordinary Grace 

by William Kent Krueger 

Pages: 307

Stars: 5 out of 5 Stars

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE 2014 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
WINNER OF THE 2014 DILYS AWARD
A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2013

Frank remembers his 13th summer when everything in his family's life changed with the wisdom that forty years later and adulthood brings.

The summer of 1961 in the small town of New Bremen, Minnesota begins with a grim death assumed to be an accident, but then there is a murder. Frank and his younger brother Jake lose their childhood innocence as grim events continue in the small town. His father, a Methodist minister has taught his sons about grace, forgiveness and faith, but this summer will test everyone in Frank's family. Frank learns the terrible price of wisdom but also the enduring grace of God.

"Fear, Hope, and Bread Pudding" by Marie Sexton

After getting married in "Paris A to Z," Jon and Cole are back in Arizona living near Jon's widowed father, George.  Cole is rich and with Jon as his accountant, their lives are pretty easy; however, Cole wants something he may never have - a baby.  He knows that finding a woman who will give up her child to two men won't be easy, and after nearly a year of waiting he is becoming desperate.  On top of that, George is pushing him to reconcile with his estranged mother.  He tries by inviting her to spend Christmas with them in Germany, but Cole and Jon leave early to fly back to Arizona when they learn that an expectant woman is interested in meeting them.  Will she pick them to adopt her baby?  If not, how much longer will they have to wait?  Will Cole and his mother ever forgive each other enough to have a relationship?

This book is part of the Coda series, and I enjoyed it more than some of the others featuring Jon and Cole.  Cole really grew in this story, letting us see his desperation and despair over wanting something that his money can not buy.  His interactions with his mother are uncomfortable and sad but feel real.  We also get to glimpse his thoughts and self-reprimands in his e-mails to his best friend, Jared, in which he describes his and Jon's journey to find a baby.  He became a much deeper character in this book, and I grew to like him more and more.  140 pages (Kindle edition).

Mom & Me & Mom

Author: Maya Angelou
Pages: 224

The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother.

For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent during much of Angelou’s early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent three-year-old Maya and her older brother away from their California home to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The subsequent feelings of abandonment stayed with Angelou for years, but their reunion, a decade later, began a story that has never before been told. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou dramatizes her years reconciling with the mother she preferred to simply call “Lady,” revealing the profound moments that shifted the balance of love and respect between them.


I have read several of Maya Angelou's books and have loved them all. She is a fantastic teller of her story and this book is just as great as the others.